Let's Read!
Hennepin County Library
Innovation Synopsis
Hennepin County Library’s Let’s Read! program offers in-person support to K-5 students struggling with reading. The program uses a curriculum developed by Reading Partners (readingpartners.org). Hennepin County Library staff serve as lead tutors and provide training and coaching to volunteer tutors who are matched to work directly with the students. The student and volunteer tutor meet weekly one-on-one, working through the curriculum that covers core components of reading such as phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Parents and caregivers are asked to make a weekly commitment to be part of this program.
Challenge/Opportunity
Students who cannot read by the end of third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school. In Hennepin County, fewer than half of third grade students meet state reading standards. Recently, the Minnesota Legislature passed the READ Act which requires every school district to adopt evidence-based structured reading approaches. This will immensely benefit future students, but thousands of children are struggling right now. As a trusted institution with 41 locations, Hennepin County Library is uniquely positioned to play a part in addressing this literacy gap. Let’s Read! builds on the success of Hennepin County Library’s Homework Help program by helping K-5 students develop the key foundational reading skills needed to read at grade level. In an out-of-school time setting, with a once-a-week intervention, versus the twice-a-week intervention in schools, it takes longer for students to progress, making commitment to the Let’s Read! program even more important.
Key Elements of Innovation
- Let’s Read! is Reading Partners’ first partnership with a library (they primarily work with schools). The library and Reading Partners are learning together about effective ways to support K-5 struggling readers in a new way.
- Hennepin County Library joined the Minnesota Literacy Coalition which connects the library with education leaders throughout the county to ensure this out-of-school time tutoring aligns with students’ academic curricula and the requirements of the READ Act.
- Hennepin County Library intentionally located Let’s Read! pilot sites at libraries in underserved communities with a higher population of K-5 students who do not meet state reading standards. In Hennepin County, a higher percentage of Black, Indigenous and People of Color live in these communities: the result of geographical racial disparities built through decades of racist housing covenants and economic disinvestment.
Achieved Outcomes
- 50% of initial group of 24 students saw immediate increases in literacy skills, some doing more than twice as well, at mid-point assessment
- Let’s Read! is offered at six sites with plans to expand
- By end of May 2024, 471 tutoring sessions were held, and 71 students attended at least one session
- Demand is high, programs are at or near capacity
- The library deepened relationships with schools and families
- Families come to the library for tutoring and other days as well
- Program impact:
- Students: “I am really proud of myself,” “Can you please tell my mom how good I did?”
- Parents/caregivers: “They started Let’s Read uninterested in reading with no confidence, now they WANT to show off their reading and never miss a chance to read in front of people! Night and day!”
- Volunteers: “I’m actually considering a career change to teaching. I can really see the difference it makes,” “The students seem really excited for their sessions and that’s all that really matters to me."
